Iran�s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Thursday that Tehran has no interest in seeking a ceasefire or entering negotiations with the United States following nearly a week of war.

In an interview with NBC News, Araghchi said Iran believes it can withstand a potential U.S. invasion if President Donald Trump decides to escalate the conflict further.

�And that would be a big disaster for them,� Araghchi said.

Araghchi argued that the United States has already failed to achieve its objectives in the current war.

�It is clear that the U.S. has failed to achieve its main goal, which was clean, rapid victory,� he said. �They failed to achieve that, and now they are trying to justify why they did attack us.�

According to the Iranian diplomat, Washington has repeatedly shifted its reasoning for launching the strikes.

�They have presented so many different reasons, but none of them worked. And now they are talking about plan B. I believe plan B would be an even bigger failure,� he said.

Araghchi insisted that the conflict was initiated by the United States.

�This is a war of choice by the United States,� he said. �We are not asking for a ceasefire, and we don�t see any reason why we should negotiate.�

He added that Iran has lost trust in negotiations with Washington.

�Negotiate with the U.S. when we negotiated with them twice, and every time they attacked us in the middle of negotiations?� he said. �So there is no request for a ceasefire by us, and there is no request for negotiation with the U.S. from us.�

Araghchi also defended Iran�s strikes across the region, saying Tehran has not targeted neighboring countries despite attacks landing in several Arab states.

�We have not attacked our neighbors. We have not attacked Muslim countries,� he said. �We have attacked American targets and American bases, American installations, which are unfortunately located in the soils of our neighbors.�

He said he has personally communicated with foreign ministers from those countries to explain Iran�s position.

�We are not targeting you. We have no problem with you. We are only targeting American installations,� he said.

Addressing reports of an attack on an elementary school in Minab that killed dozens of children, Araghchi claimed Iran�s military believes either the United States or Israel was responsible.

�Our military said 171 children were killed. So it is either U.S. or Israel. What is the difference?� he said.

Araghchi said the attacks carried out during negotiations have destroyed any remaining trust in diplomatic talks.

�The fact is that we don�t have any positive experience of negotiating with the United States,� he said. �Especially with this administration.�

He added that Iranian officials had been negotiating with American representatives last year and earlier this year before the fighting began.

�We negotiated twice, and then in the middle of negotiations, they attacked us,� he said. �So we see no reason why we should engage once again with those who are not honest in negotiation and do not enter negotiations in good faith.�

Despite the escalating conflict, Araghchi said he believes there will ultimately be no clear victor.

�There is no winner in this war,� he said. �Our win is to be able to resist against illegal goals, and this is what we have done so far.�

Regarding Iran�s leadership crisis following the death of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, Araghchi said the process to select a successor will be handled through constitutional procedures.

�There are many rumors around, but we have to wait for the Assembly of Experts to choose a new supreme leader,� he said, adding that the ongoing war could delay the process.

�That is absolutely the business of the Iranian people, and nobody can interfere.�

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